Computing systems and devices typically include adequate main memory, consisting of dynamic random access memory (DRAM), to store a subset of the contents of system nonvolatile disk storage. Main memory is used to reduce latency and increase bandwidth for the system processor to store and retrieve memory operands from disk storage.
DRAM packages such as dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) are limited in terms of their memory density, and are also typically expensive with respect to nonvolatile memory storage. Currently, to increase the size of system main memory requires multiple DIMMs, which increases the cost and volume of the system. Increasing the volume of a system adversely affects the form factor of the system—e.g., large DIMM memory ranks are not ideal in the mobile client space. What is needed is an efficient main memory system wherein increasing capacity does not adversely affect the form factor of the host system.
Descriptions of certain details and implementations follow, including a description of the figures, which may depict some or all of the embodiments described below, as well as discussing other potential embodiments or implementations of the inventive concepts presented herein. An overview of embodiments of the invention is provided below, followed by a more detailed description with reference to the drawings.